WATE-TV: East Tennessee man survives one of the deadliest types of stroke

WATE-TV: East Tennessee man survives one of the deadliest types of stroke

A local man survived the type of stroke that normally kills 80 percent of its victims. He’s doing so well, he just moved to Europe and is enjoying life to its fullest.

It’s been three and a half years since Ken Harrawood suffered a stroke. It hit while he was driving to Y-12 for his first day of work with Bechtel. He now lives in Manchester, England.

“I felt my left side go numb and I knew right away that I was either having a stroke or a heart attack,” said Harrawood.

Harrawood stopped the car and called 911.

“I wasn’t in pain. It didn’t hurt, but I knew what was happening to me,” he said. “On the way down, I lost consciousness, so right when I got to Fort Sanders, they intubated me and took me into surgery right away.”

He had surgery to remove the clot blocking the artery that supplies blood to the brain stem, which controls just about everything in your body.

“Patients who have completed strokes in those areas can end up losing all motor function. They can lose just about everything and those patients die,” said neurologist Dr. Arthur Moore.

Harrawood is one of the lucky few to survive this type of stroke. He credits Moore and Dr. Keith Woodward, calling them his two favorite doctors.

“It’s a great ending to the story because he was discharged two days later,” said Moore.

Not only did he make a quick comeback, but Harrawood just finished his first marathon with his son-in-law. Living life to the fullest has always been his motto.

“We were already doing the kind of things that you do to take advantage of life. This is reinforcement that we’re doing the right things and keep on doing that,” he said.

Moore says Harrawood is a pretty healthy guy. He was 48 when the stroke hit and the only risk factor he had was high blood pressure, which was addressed when he had the stroke.